Kerala, Karnataka Want Region Free Of Modified Crops

Thiruvananthapuram: In contrast to the stand of the Kerala and Karnataka governments, the Union agriculture ministry bats for geneticallymodified (GM) crops in the Western Ghats area in its report submitted to the Kasturirangan committee. Both Kerala and Karnataka have already called for a ‘GM-free state’. The department of agriculture & cooperation under the Union agriculture ministry says in its report that there is no reason to enforce a restriction on cultivation of Bt Cotton in the Western Ghats region as there is no perceived threat to any form of biodiversity of tetraploid species present in the region.